Chrysler will cut Q4 productionChrysler LLC's top product strategist on Wednesday said the automaker will deepen production cuts in the fourth quarter while pumping $3 billion into developing new products. In a candid assessment of Chrysler's product woes, Vice Chairman Jim Press outlined plans to turn around the automaker's lagging sales during a dealer event to showcase new vehicles.

The company's market share outside of North America "rounds to zero," he said. "It can't go down. It will go up."

Press said Chrysler has been building vehicles customers don't want. To begin to remedy the situation, he said, the carmaker will cut 82,000 vehicles out of fourth-quarter production. The move will cut revenue by $1 billion.

The cuts should reduce inventory by 100,000 units by this time next year, Press said.

At the same time, Chrysler's new owner Cerberus Capital Management LP will spend $3 billion in capital expenditures this year to improve the company's product portfolio.

Press said the company needed to "broaden the product portfolio" in some areas and kill overlap in others. He praised Chrysler's Jeep nameplate, calling it a "bullet-proof brand."

"You have to be relentless in trying to stay not with but ahead of the competition," he said, adding automakers must be "paranoid" to be successful. "It never stops." More at Detroit News

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